From: Ravi Singh (way2ccie@googlemail.com)
Date: Sat Mar 14 2009 - 14:40:26 ARST
Hi Pavel,
So nice of you to write such a descriptive email on your preparation !! I
really appreciate it ..Thank you very much.
The experience related bit can get debatable , so won't talk about it much
here. but yes, you really did a great job .
Congratulations again and wish you further success in life .. and loads of
certifications in years to come ;-)
Ravi
On Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 11:22 AM, Pavel Stefanov
<pavel.stefanov@yahoo.com>wrote:
> Thanks everyone.
>
> To Scott:
>
> Yes, the NMC's Catalyst VoD is great. It really
> helped me clear things up because apart from IE's blog and the
> configuration
> guides, there are very few resources on this topic.
>
> To Ravi:
>
> Yep, 18. I've
> got about a year and a half professional experience, but I've been in
> networking for 3 years.
>
> In my opnion, experience is not what the CCIE
> certification is about, it's about knowing the technologies, knowing how to
> implement and troubleshoot them and knowing how to work under pressure. You
> will encounter (I myself did) a lot of people that will tell you if you
> don't
> have enough experience, you will fail. But that's absolutely wrong.
> Exprience
> can actually play a bad part in the lab. Here's a few reasons - it's a lab
> so
> it's not a production network, they might ask you to do some obscure things
> you'd never do in a live network; some experienced engineers might do some
> overconfiguration or think too much about implications of a certain
> solution;
> not to mention that I personally know a bunch of people that
> underestimate/d
> the lab and that's one of the reasons they failed/could fail.
>
> For the
> written, I used mainly Cisco Press books. Configuration guides were mainly
> useful for IOS features. I did a lot of labs on core technologies as well
> as
> IPv6 and Multicast, but also explored some very corner-case scenarios,
> practically all that I could think of was labbed. I read the following
> books
> for the written:
>
> 7 Cisco Multicast Routing & Switching
> 7 CCNP Self-Study
> BCMSN Official Exam Certification Guide, 4th Edition
> 7 Cisco Press 2000 -
> CCIE Developing IP Multicast Networks (skipped some chapters)
> 7 Cisco Press
> 2000 - MPLS and VPN Architectures
> 7 Cisco Press 2001 - Routing TCP-IP Volume
> II (CCIE Professional Development)
> 7 Cisco Press 2002 - Traffic Engineering
> With MPLS (skipped some chapters) (that's not really necessary to read, I
> needed that in work)
> 7 Cisco Press 2003 - Cisco Self-Study Implementing IPv6
> Networks (skipped some chapters)
> 7 Cisco Press 2003 - MPLS and VPN
> Architectures Volume II
> 7 Cisco Press 2005 - CCIE Professional Development
> Routing TCP-IP, Volume I, Second Edition
> 7 Cisco Press 2005 - Cisco QOS Exam
> Certification Guide IP Telephony Self Study 2nd Edition
> 7 Cisco Press 2006 -
> CCIE Routing and Switching Official Exam Certification Guide 2nd Edition
> (the
> Switching and the NAT part only)
> 7 Cisco Press 2006 - Deploying IPv6 Networks
> (skipped some chapters)
> 7 Cisco Press 2006 - IPSec Virtual Private Network
> Fundamentals (1st, 2nd and 7th chapter)
>
> When I first started reading those
> books, bridging the gap between a the level of knowledge of a CCNA and a
> CCIE
> was really hard. You read about some technology, see another one mentioned,
> then you go and read about the latter. It was a mess :) Although, the
> written
> exam is required just to schedule the lab, I considered it a step that I
> had
> to make cause there are a few technologies not in the lab blueprint and
> didn't
> want to spend too much time on them.
> Regarding my lab preparation strategy, I
> copy/pasted both the official lab blueprint and IE's one in a doc file.
> Then I
> listed all the configuration guides I wanted to read.
>
> 7 Cisco IOS IP
> Addressing Services Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS IP
> Application Services Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS Bridging
> and IBM Networking Configuration Guide, Release 12.4 (Bridging Overview,
> Transparent bridging (includes IRB, CRB))
> 7 Cisco IOS Configuration
> Fundamentals Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS Dial Technologies
> Configuration Guide, Release 12.4 (PPP only)
> 7 Cisco IOS Interface and
> Hardware Component Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS IP Multicast
> Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS IP Routing Protocols
> Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS IP SLAs Configuration Guide,
> Release 12.4 (except for VoIP Gatekeeper Registration Delay, VoIP Call
> Setup
> Operation, DLSw+)
> 7 Cisco IOS IP Switching Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7
> Cisco IOS IPv6 Configuration Guide, Release 12.4 (R&S related stuff only)
> 7
> Cisco IOS LAN Switching Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS NetFlow
> Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS Network Management Configuration
> Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS Quality of Service Solutions Configuration
> Guide, Release 12.4
> 7 Cisco IOS Security Configuration Guide, Release 12.4
> (R&S related-stuff only/blueprint, and without 802.1x authentication)
> 7 Cisco
> IOS Wide-Area Networking Configuration Guide, Release 12.4 (Frame-Relay
> only)
> 7 Catalyst 3550 Multilayer Switch Software Configuration Guide, Rel.
> 12.2(25)SEE (QoS section only)
> 7 Catalyst 3560 Switch Software Configuration
> Guide, Rel. 12.2(25)SEE
>
> I read those end-to-end (of course, I skipped some of
> the features/protocols not tested in the lab). It took me 5 or 6 months and
> I
> realized it was an enormous amount of work, but I also wanted to improve my
> IOS culture so it was not only about the lab. Then I watched the CoD and
> VoDs.
> Then went on and completed 10 labs from one vendor, moved to the other
> vendor
> and the back to the first one. I also had 8 9-hour ASET lab sessions booked
> where I did 11 labs (6 of them are built-in).
>
> As for the actual lab exam:
> I
> read a few checklists written by other members of GroupStudy, but I decided
> to
> write my own simpler one. I didn't draw any diagrams and rarely ever did in
> my
> preparation. I wanted to keep things simple and not spend too much time on
> additonal stuff. I read the lab twice, noted down some of the issues I
> could've encountered during the lab, drew a table with four columns as
> suggested by the Brians - Task, Points, Y/N, Notes. Then I opened 6 IE
> windows
> - IOS config guides and command references, 3560 and 3550 configuration and
> command references. I also copied the running-configs in flash just in case
> I
> had to check how something was configured at the beginning.
>
> Anyway, I
> started the lab very slowly, but I was done with about 65-70% of the lab by
> lunchtime. During lunch I was thinking of which tasks to complete next in
> order to get 80 points. I was done with the whole lab in exactly 5 hours so
> I
> had 3 full hours to verify and possibly troublehshoot. I asked the proctor
> a
> lot of questions during the exam and although the proctor was a bit grumpy
> after my 10th question :), I didn't really care about that and continued to
> check with the him all that seemed obscure to me. I also used TCL scriping
> and
> macros, which I highly recommend making use of in the real lab and in your
> preparation. I made two full verifications and had 20-30 minutes left, but
> as
> Brian Dennis had suggested, I didn't leave the lab early and drank as many
> free drinks and ate as many fruit as I could :) I honestly expected a more
> difficult lab and I was quite sure I'd passed after I left the lab.
>
> So that's
> pretty much all about the lab.
>
> Pavel
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Ravi Singh <way2ccie@googlemail.com>
> To: Pavel Stefanov
> <pavel.stefanov@yahoo.com>
> Cc: ccielab@groupstudy.com
> Sent: Friday, March 13,
> 2009 4:59:36 PM
> Subject: Re: Passed R&S in Brussel
>
>
> Congratulations Pavel !!!
> And if I am not wrong how old are you now ..18 I guess ??
>
> If you don't mind
> me asking, could you please let me know a bit about your professional
> experience. I obviously don't doubt your certification but the reason I ask
> this is that it could be a source of inspiration for me and some people
> here.
> I mean there are people who have been working in the industry for say 10-15
> years and have attempted the lab N times. But since you passed on the first
> attempt at such a young age, could you please guide us on the strategy you
> took.
>
> Forgive me being so inquisitive but I just couldn't help it.. Hope you
> don't mind !!
>
> Congrats Again
>
> Ravi
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 2:18 PM,
> Pavel Stefanov <pavel.stefanov@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I just wanted to say
> thank you all for the great questions, answers and advice I got from this
> forum. I remember the day when I first posted in groupstudy -
> http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=121109&t=121109 and would
> like
> to say a big thanks especially to Joseph Brunner and Jun Kim. Also big
> thanks
> to my brother, Brian McGahan, Brian Dennis, Scott Morris, Petr Lapukhov,
> Himawan Nugroho, Scott Vermillion and others.
>
> I passed the R&S lab in
> Brussels in the beginning of February, this year, on my first attempt. It
> took
> me 2-2.5 years to prepare (9-10 months for the written, and the rest for
> the
> lab). I used mainly Cisco Press books, blogs, IE's CoD, workbook volume 1
> and
> 2, IE's forums, IPExpert's v9 workbook and forums, Netmaster's Catalyst QoS
> VoD, ASET labs and last but not least - GroupStudy. I didn't have my own
> home
> rack, used dynamips, PEC and some 2960s I had access to in the academy I
> used
> to teach courses. Now I've got to pass the matriculation exams after high
> school and then I'm starting my preparation for the SP track.
>
> Once again,
> thanks everyone for the great posts.
>
> Pavel
>
>
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